ARM aims at consoles

Chipmaker ARM is has told the Inquirer that a new Mali GPU design due out in 18 months will be ideal for console graphics on mobiles.

While there is no doubt e doubt that Mali will be ideal, there is no guarantee that Microsoft or Sony will be interested. Since 2009, ARM claimed that Xbox 360-level graphics are possible on mobiles, particularly with some of the new die shrinks. But soon there will be a counter attack from Nvidia that could change Arm's playing field.

Nvidia will counter with Kal-El in the second half of this year, and it could bring something approaching console-level performance to tablets and other portables. By the time ARM pulls finger on Mali, Nvidia will be talking about Project Denver, which could well make for a killer desktop gaming chip.

The only thing that will stuff up Nvidia will be lack of games written for it. But then again, ARM will have the same problem.